Juli's Cinema Spot

I'm referring, of course, to that wonderful movie Yankee Doodle Dandy directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. The AFI placed it at number 100 on their list. In case you're not familiar with the plot, it's the life story of actor/producer/playwright George M. Cohan. The film pioneered the flashback method of telling a story and begins with Cohan's childhood stage acting. It tells the story of he and his family as they performed plays and shows across the country as "The Four Cohans. Like all entertainers, they have their ups and downs. At one point George's arrogance causes his family to be looked down on as performers. In a somewhat sneaky move, however, Cohan gets funding from a producer and makes his stage come-back. Finally the family is once again reunited as a family act. There is much more to the film, but I'll stop here because I don't want to spoil it for you. The message about family loyalty is something you don't see much in...

About an hour ago my husband and I got home from seeing Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I have to say, I initially couldn't think of any words to describe this movie. It was weird beyond words, but then that's what I expect from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. All in all it was a good movie, very well done and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, where to start? The kids did a great job acting in this movie. My favorites, in order, were: Veruca, Violet, Charlie, Augustus, and Mike. I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan, so of course, think he did a great job. Then there was Christopher Lee. While this wasn't one of his most stellar, spectacular roles, it seemed like he had a great time playing Wonka's father. In fact, the entire cast seemed like they were given the go-ahead from Burton to just "have fun with it" and it truly showed. They formed a good ensemble which shone through on the big screen. Finally, I thought it was remarkable that one acto...